RSS Feeds: A Day at Crystal Beach, San Narciso, Zambales, Philippines
I spent my entire Sunday at Crystal Beach in San Narciso, Zambales. I had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, because I really don't care for going places when I have more important things to do. Since I value communication with my wife, however, I relented and attempted to enjoy myself despite a nasty head cold I've been trying to get over. I don't have a dog house to sleep in.
San Narciso
San Narciso is famous for its beaches, well-suited for surfing, and Crystal Beach is just one of them. The Philippine Merchant Marine Academy is in San Narciso. San Narciso was home to one of the former presidents, Ramon Magsaysay, with Magsaysay Memorial College named after him. We even drove past his former house (a beautiful historic building).
The beaches on the western seaboard are geared for tourists and most are much too expensive for a simple day at the beach. My wife's aunt arrived about a week ago for vacation, followed by a cousin and a nephew on Saturday. Her aunt insisted on going to one of the beaches and the ones closer to Olongapo (including the "All-Hands Beach" at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone) were too expensive for her vacation plans.
We rented a bamboo and thatch cottage for the day at Crystal Beach for a mere 1300 pesos (about $28.00) for all of the people in our party, which had to be around 50. The other beaches charged a "per head" fee of 150 pesos to 500 pesos each. You can see how fast that would add up to a small fortune for that many people. Besides swimming, everyone enjoyed a bit of karaoke as well and the price of the machine rental was included in the cottage rental price.
The odd thing about all this is that the further North you go to get away from the industrial areas and shipping lanes (in this case, Subic Bay), the cleaner and bluer the waters are. I've always seen pollution at the beaches closer to home, but Crystal beach appeared to be as pollution-free as any beach in Hawaii or southern California. San Narciso is only 30 minutes away, even with heavy traffic.
A Thousand Words
Since pictures and videos are worth a thousand words (or more), here's one I've selected so you can get an idea of what this beach is actually like:
As you can plainly see, it's a very nice beach. It almost makes me wish I'd built my home in San Narciso instead of Olongapo City.
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Nice Beach glad to hear you are getting out of your dank cell for a bit.
Yes San Narciso most likely would be better than Olongapo, Olongapo is pretty much one right on top of one another, mostly cardboard and tin shacks. Pretty discusting guess thats why I loved it.
When was the last time you were actually in Olongapo, Joe? It isn't like that and hasn't been like that since before the first time I was here in the 80s.
Great video RT. Future surfing champs!
My last time to visit Olongapo was 1991, I was onboard the USS Tarawa returning from the Gulf War. Previously I had been stationed at Marine Barracks SepGdCo Cubi pt, later know as B Co. 1972-1975 also 3rd MEF liason at the upper MAU 77-78. In 92 i was amazed how run down Olongapo had gotten, the weather must take a toll on the place. I doubt things have changed that much. Good thing was every year or so a large section of Olongapo use to burn down. Kinda like a good flush. Burned twice while i was there. Some of the pictures I see now day look good, but then pics can make anything look good.
Well, 1992 was when the base closed, after Mt. Pinatubo dumped tons of ash onto the city. That eruption probably did more damage than anything else. Things have just improved since then, even if it happens slowly.
Yup, we sailed out of there 12 hours before Pinatubo blew up.
Sad to see the base gone, Id be there today if the base was there.
The base is gone, but it still operates a lot like one, but with Filipino guards at the gates. The bowling alley is long gone and the movie theater (the only one in Subic Bay AND Olongapo) sucks, but that should all change when the Ayala Corporation puts in a new mall, a resort and some other amenities.
wow, absolutely beautiful! I guess that don't call it "Crystal Beach" for nothing do they? The water is crystal clear and amazingly beautiful!